Relatively unknown at the start of 2012, Gaethje has quickly become one of the sport’s brightest up-and-coming prospects, and thanks to his most recent performance, one of the newest signees to the World Series of Fighting.

“I had three fights in about 10 weeks and after the last one, my manager was talking to the WSOF and they gave me the opportunity and offered me a contract,” said Gaethje. “I’m so excited about that and excited to be fighting for a bigger show in front of a lot more people.”

Hints that the organization was looking to pick him up only served to motivate Gaethje to make a statement against Adrian Valdez at Rage in the Cage 164 a month ago.

“It was an opportunity they said was possible, but it wasn’t a sure thing,” said Gaethje. “I had to go out there and still fight. I knew that if I won decisively I would get the WSOF call, so I went out there and knocked him out and I got the call.”

The win was Gaethje’s seventh as a professional fighter, and with 14 wins and no losses combined overall in his career, it’s easy to understand why the WSOF would want him and why he’s excited for the prospect of fighting for them next year.

“The thing about me is that I don’t mind losing,” Gaethje told MMAWeekly.com. “I haven’t lost in MMA, but I lost in wrestling and I know how to deal with it and I hate it. If it happens, it happens, but I’ll always give 100-percent win or lose.

“I think 2013 by far is going to be the best year of my career. With my style of fighting, people are going to notice that I’m there and I’m a top a contender no matter what because I’m going to bring it.”